Menu

Economics

A worthy read is “Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond” by Marc Lamont Hill, Morehouse University professor and new addition to the morning radio show the “Breakfast Club.”

In an interview for AOL BUILD, Hill said it. Within the few minutes allowed, he said what many of the socially conscious are thinking when sidelined from the Black Lives Matter agenda with the discussion of Black on Black crime and Black disobedience. Hill states that “People who even if they don’t get killed by state violence through the form of bullets, they’re still committed to … slow death row – the death of poverty… ”

I read at least five newspapers per day. Electronic media allows not only the authors response to a situation, but included are the public responses as well. From the death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012 to the more recent deaths of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile, journalist and public commentators spoke within the confines of police and victim, prejudice and privilege, law and order. The policy driven isolation and destruction of Black economy creating targets of Black men and women never came into focus during these discussions – until now.

Before we continue our discussions of policy and practice, read “Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond.”

Brooklyn Magazine features Black Owned Restaurant Month. Food is how cultures keep their traditions alive. Wherever populations roam, the one thing they can always bring with them are their recipes – the kitchen smells, salty sweet tastes on their tongues. So for Brooklyn, one of the most diverse boroughs of New York City, the food industry is an introduction to multiple cultures. Why highlight Black Restaurants? Brooklyn Magazine reaches out to Brooklyn’s most prominent Black restauranteers and patrons for the answer.

“Black Americans make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population and will have a buying power of $1.4 trillion by 2019,” Jamilah points out, “but how much of that money flows back into our communities?” As rents in New York City rise (and rise, and rise), long-standing businesses struggle to stay afloat. Historically, gentrification has disproportionately displaced minority communities, and with them, minority-owned businesses. BORM is one of many relatively new resources designed to foster support for businesses owned by African Americans, including the online directory Support Black Owned and apps like Around the Way, which locates nearby black-owned businesses. BORM is designed to celebrate some excellent restaurants that New York City Restaurant Week might’ve missed, and also to foster support for businesses in communities facing gentrification.

BORM lasts from September 9th to 30th, with 13 restaurants in Brooklyn and Harlem offering custom $35 three-course prix-fixe menus from Monday to Wednesday each week. Here, participating Brooklyn restaurant owners tell their stories and offer sneak peeks of their prix-fixe menus.

As Andrew Golis points out, this might suggest something even deeper than the idea that poverty’s stress interferes with our ability to make good decisions. The inescapability of poverty weighs so heavily on the author that s/he abandons long-term planning entirely, because the short term needs are so great and the long-term gains so implausible. The train is just not coming. What if the psychology of poverty, which can appear so irrational to those not in poverty, is actually “the most rational response to a world of chaos and unpredictable outcomes,” he wrote.

None of this is an argument against poorer families trying to save or plan for the long-term. It’s an argument for context. As Eldar Shafir, the author of the Science study, told The Atlantic Cities‘ Emily Badger: “All the data shows it isn’t about poor people, it’s about people who happen to be in poverty. All the data suggests it is not the person, it’s the context they’re inhabiting.”

Typically, any talk of renewable energy, breaking the laws of physics, and especially new drones is world-class news. The big networks such as CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS slip clips into every spare second available. But since 1999, Chikumbutso’s accomplishments remained largely silenced and ignored by the media, the scientific community, and financial institutions – until now.

TechZim’s biographical article on Sangulani (Maxwell) Chikumbutso founder of Saith Technologies calls Chikumbutso “a Zimbabwean born serial inventor with the typical I dropped out of school, but I am a genius story, synonymous with some of the successful people we know today.” He has been compared to Mark Zuckerburg and Bill Gates because of his similar academic backstory.

This article explicates the old lessons of middle-class, “nouveau riche” versus the well-established, rich.

1. The middle class live comfortably, the rich embrace being uncomfortable

“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.” – Peter McWilliams

“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott

It’s comfortable to work a “safe” job. It’s comfortable to work for someone else. The middle class think being comfortable means being happy, but the rich realize that extraordinary things happen when we put ourselves in uncomfortable situations. Starting your own business is a risk and risks can be uncomfortable, but a little risk is what it takes to create wealth and achieve superior results.

Step out of your comfort zone. Look at all your options. You will have to be at least a little uncomfortable if you want to become rich. You might even have to fail and that’s great, because if you’re not failing, you’re not doing much.

Rakuten Int’l

OYR Challenge

Take the #OYRchallenge

At least once per day, approach your racial encounters with power. Inner power. Victories, no matter how small, are the key to this challenge – no hubris, retaliations, pettiness, or abuses exude power or is the aim of this challenge (put away your crazy toolbox; not needed here). This can only be done if you follow principles that we ourselves will create during this adventure. There are a few listed to get you started.

A Case for Using Mother Tongue in Primary Education Research shows overwhelmingly that mother tongues are the most ideal tools for early child education. In a variety of countries, such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, studies indicate that the mother tongue medium is the best for early school education. This is particularly true […] The post Afr […]

By Robin George Andrews Namibia is famed for its deserts, including the world’s oldest, a vast expanse of undulating, scorched sand dunes occasionally visited by an ethereal fog. But around 300 million years ago, Namibia was frozen and located near the South Pole, smooshed against what is now South America within the emerging Pangea supercontinent. There, it […]

mmWave small cell offers flexible deployment to cover extreme-traffic outdoor areas with high capacity 5G connectivity Small cell mid-band radio enables operators to seamlessly upgrade indoor coverage to 5G In advance of Mobile World Congress, Nokia today announces two new additions to its AirScale small cells portfolio that extend the high performance of 5G […]

The last 20 years of real estate boom in East Africa has changed our building landscape and inventory, as it quite rightly should have done. Our starting point was a region that was short of every kind of building, from housing, to shops, through offices, warehouses, hotels, and even student hostels. In all, we faced […] The post East African Real Estate Inv […]

RnB artist Tellaman has been firing off hits in recent years and is well on his way to becoming a household name. Now he has been chosen by Apple Music as their first Pan-African New Artist Spotlight in February. This means that he will feature as the New Artist Spotlight not only in South Africa, […] The post RnB Artist Tellaman Is Apple Music’s First Pan-A […]